Sports
A goodly field runs the St. Pat's
Ninety-three supporters of the Martha's Vineyard Boys & Girls Club showed up to run the 11th annual Ocean View St. Patrick's 5K road race in cold but clear conditions, Sunday. That's 68 more than last year's 25 stalwarts who braved bone-chilling rain.
They're off! The running fraternity and sorority begin their 5K junket around East Chop for the Boys and Girls Club.
Photos by Ralph Stewart
First to complete the run in 18:27 was 43-year-old David Diriwachter of Vineyard Haven.
He was followed by 12-year-old Jeremy Alley Tarter of Oak Bluffs, whose time was 19:18, and Paul Vertefeuille, 44, of Vineyard Haven at 19:25.
The first female to reach the finish line was Bonnie Kingsbury, 30, of Vineyard Haven in 21 minutes flat. She was 8th overall.
The rest of the top ten were: (4) Garry Metters, 43, West Tisbury, 19:27; (5) Blake Edmunds, 35, Vineyard Haven, 20:18; (6) Leonard Verville, 45, Oak Bluffs, 20:39; (7) Robert Nocelo, 36, Vineyard Haven, 20:52; (9) Daniel Vaughan, 33, Edgartown, 21:07; (10) Patrick Parker, 48, Oak Bluffs, 21:13.
David Diriwachter nears the finish line alone and first.
Top female runners in their gender/age category were: 12 and under: Lucy Norris of Chilmark; 13-15: Lilly Neville of Vineyard Haven; 16-19: Emma Stockman of Darien, Conn.; 20-29: Janie Lightfoot of Newton; 30-39: Bonnie Kingsbury of Vineyard Haven; 40-49: Margret D'Angelo of West Tisbury; 50-59: Tonya Helm of Providence, R.I.; 60-69: Natalie Conroy of Chilmark.
Top male runners in their gender/age category were: 12 and under: Jeremy Alley Tarter of Oak Bluffs; 13-15: Andrew Cook of Lowell; 16-19: Tim Parker, Oak Bluffs; 20-29: Dustin Shaw of Oak Bluffs; 30-39: David Diriwachter of Vineyard Haven; 40-49: Paul Vertefeuille of Vineyard Haven; 50-59: Dana Gaines of Edgartown; 60-69: Jim Athearn of Edgartown.
Major sponsors of the event were the Martha's Vineyard Savings Bank and the Ocean View Restaurant. Other sponsors were: Broadway Screen Printing, Hart Company Plumbing and Heating, H.N. Hinckley & Sons, Mark Pogorzeliski Carpentry, Martha's Vineyard Bug & Bus, Martha's Vineyard Online, Parker Carpets, Rosbeck Builders Corp., Shiretown Meats, Vineyard Decorators, Welch Electric Co., and W.H. Russell House Painting.
Twelve-year-old Jeremy Alley Tarter was second.
First lady Bonnie Kingsbury finished 8th over all.
RCBL to begin playoffs
Monday's late game at the B&G Club, pitting the league leading Warriors (9-1) against the under-achieving Lakers (3-7), was a foretaste of the league playoffs that begin next Monday.
With Tim Scott, Mark Rivers, and Pat Rolston hitting from downtown, the Warriors took a 33-24 lead in the first quarter, and then cooled in the second allowing the Lakers to catch up. It was 50-50 at the half.
With captain Heath Estrella leading the way with a game-high 27 points, the Lakers went up by nine, 79-70, in the third quarter and held on to win, 105-92. Jade Cash and Tim Scott were high for the Warriors, both with 24.
It was only the second loss of the season for the Warriors, both to the Lakers.
In the other Monday game the Heat were too hot for the Knicks, 108-96. Sandy Fisher found the range for five treys. Teammate Jason Dyer had the Heat high 30 points.
James Holenko (35) and Ryan Kurth (29) did most of the damage for the Knicks.
Last Thursday the Lakers ran up a 64-39 half-time lead over the Knicks and nursed it well enough to finish up by 20, 111-91.
Nate Scott scored most of his game-high 34 points in the first and third quarters. Ryan Kurth's 23 was high for the Knicks.
Also Thursday, the Warriors and Bulls went at it. At the half the Bulls had earned a 50-42 advantage. The teams were tied, 75-75, after three quarters - three-point shooting by the Warriors matching scrappy play by the Bulls. But the Bulls tired in the final frame and the Warriors took advantage to finish up, 103-92.
Playoffs begin Monday.
In the first round of best 2-of-3 playoff games, the top-team Warriors will meet the fourth-place team Lakers.
The teams in second and third place, the Bulls and Heat, are also matched. The Knicks, finishing fifth, are out of the running.
Final RCBL Standings
Warriors 10-2
Bulls 7-5
Heat 7-5
Lakers 5-7
Knicks 1-11
Masters Liz, Les, and Leslie.
Masters at Harvard
Three members of the Mansion House Masters swim team were at Harvard's Blodgett Pool, Saturday, competing in the distance component of the New England Short Course Masters Swim Championships.
Swimmers were allowed to enter one of the two distance events, the 1,650 yard (mile) event or the 1,000 yard freestyle.
Leslie Grimm of Vineyard Haven was first in her age group in the mile swim. She led from beginning to end and finished with a very impressive time of 21:00.57, 50 seconds better than her "seed" time, the time it took her to complete the distance last year.
Liz Fox of Vineyard Haven, a new member of the Mansion House team, was strong in her first masters-level competition. She was sixth in her age group in the 1,000-yard freestyle, finishing more than a minute better than her seed time.
Les Cutler of West Tisbury was second in the 65-69 age group in the mile. His time was a personal best, a few seconds better than his time at the National Championship Meet last May.
This weekend Leslie, Les, and Rainy Goodale will swim in the Championships to be held at the same Blodgett Pool. Each will compete in multiple events, testing their skills in different strokes over distances ranging from 50 to 500 yards.
Sports Highlights
Tennis tourney
A March Madness Tennis Tournament will be held at the Vineyard Tennis Center at the airport, this Saturday and Sunday. Admission is free. Donations to the Island Food Pantry are encouraged.
Register at the VTC at the airport or call 508-696-8000.
7th grade girls
Also Saturday at the Vineyard Tennis Center, from 12 noon to 2:30 pm, the VTC Workout and Spa invites 7th grade girls to a free workshop in skin care, massage, and cardio cooking. Register by calling 508-696-8000.
Skaters kick broadcasters
The Skatepark nine defeated the kickball team from WVVY, 5-3, in the Island Kickball Classic at Manter Field in West Tisbury, Saturday.
A close game from beginning to end, the final out was a last inning unassisted double play with tying runs on base.
As agreed upon, the winners claimed two thirds of the $700 pot raised from donations and pledges.
The spirited game was enough fun and the pot sweet enough to encourage players and sponsors to think of holding a kickball tournament and even dream dreams of a summer league of kickball teams.
Skateboarder Jade Correll was the warm-up pitcher.
"Bones" Barber was stellar at short for the skaters.
Photos by Ralph Stewart
Kent took the cake
Kent Leonard of Vineyard Haven won the Boys 14 and under tennis division at Easton last weekend. Kent defeated the number one seed en route to the tournament win. He was ranked higher than 100 in New England but his victory at Easton should vault him to the 80's. Kent is one of a number of tournament players at Vineyard Youth Tennis who are making names for themselves on the tournament circuit.
Classic TV Sports
The MVTV Classic Sport show on Monday, March 30, will feature the 2003 football game with East Boston. On Wednesday, it's the 2006 basketball team versus Greater New Bedford.
Believe it or not...it's Spring!
High school spring sports begin this week.
The boys tennis team is host to Sandwich, today, Thursday and visits Bourne Monday and Sandwich, Tuesday.
The girls tennis team is at Sandwich Friday and entertains Chatham, Wednesday and Sandwich, next Thursday.
The varsity baseball season opener is Friday at Falmouth. Next Thursday the Islanders are at Fairhaven.
The jayvee nine opens at Falmouth, Friday.
The softball season opens with New Bedford here, Saturday, to play both the varsity and jayvees.
The girls varsity and junior varsity lacrosse teams play their first games at Sandwich, Wednesday.
The boys varsity LaX teams begin play at Sandwich a week from Friday.
The track and field teams, both boys and girls, take on Diman at Fall River, Thursday, April 2. Tri-County is here Tuesday, April 7.
Inter-scholastics
The first inter-grammar school baseball games will be Tuesday, April 7. West Tisbury is at Tisbury and Edgartown at Oak Bluffs. The first girls softball games are Thursday, April 9 when West Tisbury visits Tisbury and Oak Bluffs is at Edgartown.
Missiles fly at P.A.
Dart League playoffs were the rule not the exception at the P.A. Club on Thursdays, March 12 and 19.
On the 12th it was the Robert O'Sullivan squad (Pete Searle. Mike Lipinsky, Charlene Barbosa) versus Jake Gifford's gang (Pat Whalen, Fred McDougal, Brenda Welch). The O'Sullivans took home the money.
Last Thursday Wes Wood's wonders went against Don Welty's wild ones in a tie breaker and prevailed.
League Standings (1) Robert O'Sullivan 39; (2) Mike Dow 38; (3) Wes Wood 37 (4) Don Welty 33 (5) Jake Gifford 32 (6) Ray Blanchettte 19.
Robert O'Sullivan leads with 13 tons.
Pat Whalen, Jack Welch, and Kim Cottrill are in a 3-way tie for most singles each with five.
Park will be missed
The unavailability of Tisbury's Veterans Memorial Park for use this spring and summer will surely demonstrate to hundreds of people just how truly important a facility the park is for so many.
Some of the organizations that must suspend their activities or find whatever inadequate substitute fields that may exist on Island include: the Men's Softball League, the Women's Softball league, Tee-ball league baseball, the Summer Soccer League, Interscholastic softball and baseball teams as well as Frisbee enthusiasts.
PeeWees in final 4
Having lost their first game, Friday, to SMS (Sudbury, Maynard, Stow), the Martha's Vineyard Youth Hockey PeeWee A team (junior highs) needed to defeat Watertown and then trounce Revere in order to reach the state finals at Springfield. And they did! The Islanders got by Watertown, 5-3, and then shut out Revere, 4-0, and qualified for the finals where they came in second to Melrose, Sunday, 3-1.
It was a great ride and a thrilling conclusion to a successful season. Tyson Araujo was the team's leading scorer with eight goals. Both Dorian Johnson and Brian Fraser scored twice. Callie Jackson and Emerson Mahoney also scored. Noah Kleinhenz was stellar in goal playing behind defenders Marco Petricone, Andrew Carroll, Matt Davies, and Alexander Vukota. Assist credits went to Austin Morely, Barry Lima MacDonald, Niklas Kent, and Michael Mazza.
Team coaches are Greg Carroll and Woody Araujo, assisted by Mick Vukota, Joe Merry, and Mike Jackson.
Congratulations to the players and their coaches and the parents who invested so much time and emotion in the effort.
This weekend the PeeWees are entered in the Neponset Valley League Championships.
Last Saturday the Youth Hockey Bantams defeated Barnstable twice, outscoring the Raiders by a total of 14-5 in the Falmouth Arena. Everyone contributed to the potent offense. Joe Uva scored his first goal of the year. Zolie Clark reigned in goal.
Also Saturday, the Neponset Valley League PeeWees tied the Spitfire PeeWees at Foxboro, 2-2.
Sunday the NVL Squirts lost a squeaker to Franklin, 3-2.
